Month: December 2006

Aside from England’s noses being ground into the dirt like a pumice stone, the big(ish) news from yesterday was the leaked England bowling plans.

(Via Sydney Morning Herald)

A slight storm in a tea-cup; the plans themselves are hardly revolutionary, and Australia’s batsmen have prospered so far without seeing the plans. It is the theft which will worry and depress England, but it does raise a wonderful who’dunnit. Maybe a particularly pissed off member of the England side let it slip to spite, well, someone. Or not.

Is it because Warne has been around a little longer? Because he revolutionised (and revamped) the art of legspin? Is it because I always dreamed of being a leggie myself? Or is it because or Murali’s elastic arm and the cloud of suspicion which still hangs over his head?

Murali is no less a showman, no less hungry for wickets. His throaty, raucous appeal is a frightening ordeal for any batsman or umpire and he really can turn a ball on glass. He is a phenomena of control – bendy arm and wobbly wrist, or not – which even Warne must envy. But, still…he’s no Warne.

Perhaps this highlights Warne’s appeal more than Murali’s failings. Yesterday, before picking up his 700th Test wicket, Warne spoke to Mike Atherton about his career. One thing stuck out like one of his rare wrong’uns: “I always like to push the boundaries…the boundaries of dissent, or whatever. I’m an entertainer”. And so he is. Murali is no less appealing a bowler, but is too endearing a character. Warne is the genius with a darker, villainous, mischievous streak; the smoker; the drinker; the sledger; the divorcee; the sex-romper and tabloid-headline provider. When he steps out onto the field, perhaps we half expect all these traits to burden him; maybe we will him to fall down like the villain in a pantomime.

But he never did. Murali will probably take 1000 wickets. But he’s no Warne.

While Shane Warne added a gold lining to his script with his 700th wicket, on his home ground, and another five-wicket haul against England, Glenn McGrath was chugging along at the other end. He might have easily ended with more than a solitary scalp but, on a day of records, one of them nearly passed by unnoticed.

In dismissing Sajid Mahmood, McGrath claimed his 150th Test wicket against England. He has taken them at under 21 runs each and, it occured to me yesterday, I’ve seen nearly every, painful one of them.

The metronome started ticking in 1994 at the Gabba but it wasn’t memorable, and few who witnessed this spindly twig could’ve forseen a future champion. 0 for 40 from 10 in the first innings; 0 for 47 off 14 in the second. His enforced half-step into the stumps on delivery seemed a clever move but awkwardly executed. He didn’t look a natural.

A few months later, picked for Australia’s epic tour of the Caribbean, McGrath showed the qualities which would become a blueprint for fast bowlers. He took 5 for 68 in the West Indies’ second innings at Bridgetown - dismissing Brian Lara for the first time – as Australia took a series lead. After a draw in the 2nd Test at Antigua, McGrath took 6 for 47 to rout West Indies for 136. West Indies won – it remains one of my favourite Tests – but McGrath showed his class. Here’s the Daily Telegraph’s report:

McGrath, 25, a two-metre tall bush bloke from Narromine, held hispress conference barefoot and in shirt and shorts yesterday,hardly the vision splendid of Australia`s knight in shining ar-mour.

But with the Ashes new-ball pair of Craig McDermott and DamienFleming injured and back in Australia, that is how “Pigeon“McGrath has emerged in the Caribbean, having won the man-of-the-match award in Australia`s first Test win in Barbados with 8-114and now a candidate for the same honour in Trinidad.

McGrath sat in the players` box and scrutinised the West Indies`attack on Friday, observing how Curtly Ambrose (5-45), CourtneyWalsh (3-50) and Winston Benjamin (1-13) bowled a fuller lengthto avoid being cut or pulled with the ball digging into the pitchand standing up.

With several hundred Australian spectators following the team`sprogress, McGrath is still coming to grips with the personal warchant – “Ooh, aah, Glenn McGrath!“ – reverberating around theboundary.

“It`s something I`ve never experienced before,“ he said. “Itstarted in Barbados. Hopefully, we`ll bring the cup home forthem. We`re real confident. We are here to win, and that`s ex-actly what we`re going to do. The guys are pretty keyed up. If wenail this Test, it will be great. It`s a pretty tense dressingroom. The main thing is that everyone wants everyone else to dowell. The attitude could not be better.“

Even the champions have to work hard. They always seem effortless, filled with luck and fortune but there’s blood and tears behind the smooth veneer. Anyway, he’s finished…and thank God for that!

Posted massively in advance. By the time you read this, you’ll all be bursting to the seams with turkey, bread sauce and stuffing – and enough wine to sink a battleship. I’ll be heaving my way from the kitchen to the sitting room to cover the Test, so if you too are a sad loser with nothing better to do on Christmas Day than watch England get a roasting (HONK) or a stuffing (HO HO) or a basting (I’ll stop now), do join us at Cricinfo for full, live, uninterrupted, groundbreaking, turkey-laden coverage!